Considering the implications on pre-emptive health care and disease prevention, and the massive learning tool it could provide when combined with access to the Internet, could promoting literacy in countries suffering from extreme poverty be one of the most useful tools to help fight poverty?

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A new economic or political system is needed to eradicate poverty

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While the link is strong, poverty isn't caused by illiteracy & many other factors need consideration

0 agrees

0 disagrees

There is a direct correlation between illiteracy and poverty

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0 disagrees

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A new economic or political system is needed to eradicate poverty

A capitalist economic system is such that society forms a hierarchical structure, where inevitably there will always be a greater number of people living in poverty than are living comfortably. Likewise government bureaucracy also often stands in the way of fighting poverty, as the people in charge of looking after society for the benefit of the majority, usually make decisions to benefit a rich minority arguing that wealth will trickle down, a process that doesn’t happen organically. A change of economic system coupled with an end to unfair governing practices could bring about a change poverty. Investing in cohesive welfare systems can help to ease the burden of poverty on society, something that most economists and governments seem ill equipped to challenge.

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While the link is strong, poverty isn't caused by illiteracy & many other factors need consideration

The issue of poverty goes far beyond literacy and literate people are still involved in some of the worst living conditions in the world, especially when involved in regional humanitarian crises. The literacy rate in countries such as Syria and Ukraine for example are high, however due to conditions of civil unrest in these countries many people have become impoverished. Furthermore, there are many former soviet states that, despite having a high rate of literacy, have a high proportion of citizens living below the poverty line. Moldova, Kosovo and Albania join Ukraine as some of the poorest and most poverty stricken countries in Europe, despite all having a literacy rate well above 90%. There is a link but literacy is far from a fix all solution to poverty.

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There is a direct correlation between illiteracy and poverty

Tackling this widespread issue is one of the foremost methods for reducing overall poverty in the world. South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa have some of the worst literacy rates in the world with a disproportionately high ratio of illiterate women. Boosting literacy has many knock on effects that directly help people get out of poverty or improve their standard of living; access to medicine, health care and safety information, self education (especially in combination with internet access), increased productivity and employability are but a few benefits.